The testimony of Michael Eugene Kennedy came in the final minutes of Tuesday afternoon's court session and was surprising on several levels. While the prosecution has long been expected to put admitted gunman Van Brett Watkins on the stand, few expected that Kennedy, who has no plea deal on the table, would testify.

Kennedy, who also faces capital murder charges in Adams' death, waived his Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination. Kennedy admitted that he helped Carruth in the murder plot, but said the former Carolina Panther commissioned Watkins to actually pull the trigger.

Kennedy was only on the stand for a few minutes before Judge Charles Lamm dismissed jurors for the day. The prosecution will continue questioning Kennedy when court reconvenes Wednesday morning. In a press conference after the end of court Tuesday, defense lawyer David Rudolf vowed to cross examine Kennedy "until the cows come home."

On the stand Tuesday, Kennedy described a conversation he had with Carruth the day before the Nov. 16, 1999 shooting. "He was telling me about this girl he had got pregnant," Kennedy said. "He said she was trying to juice him for money and he was already paying $5000 in child support and he didn't want to pay another $5000."

Kennedy said that Carruth told him he had already paid Watkins to "beat up Cherica so she would lose the baby," but that he "needed a gun because he wanted to do it that night."

Michael Kennedy

Kennedy claims that the conversation started innocently enough, with Carruth asking him to borrow a car — one that would be plain-looking and inconspicuous.

Kennedy, who was using a rental car, asked Carruth, who owned several vehicles including a Ford Expedition and a Mercedes, why he would need it.

That's when Carruth mapped out his plan — and described how Kennedy was going to help him, Kennedy said.

"I said I didn't want anything to do with it," Kennedy testified. But the former wide receiver threatened him, he said.

"You already have something to do with it because you know about it," he said. "He told me if I didn't I would be next."

Kennedy admitted to agreeing to bring Watkins to buy a gun with $100 Carruth gave him.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Gentry Caudill made no mention of any of the three co-defendants taking the stand. Rudolf forewarned the jury that Watkins, who cut a deal in exchange for his testimony incriminating Carruth, has a history of mental illness, a lengthy criminal record, and numerous inconsistencies in his statements to investigators.

In the press conference on Tuesday, Rudolf did not admit that he had been blind-sided by Kennedy's appearance on the stand. Exuding the self-confidence most defense lawyers exhibit throughout such a trial, Rudolf said that he expected that it would be an "interesting" cross-examination and hinted that despite the lack of a formal agreement, Kennedy may indeed expect some sort of leniency in exchange for his testimony.

Also taking the stand yesterday afternoon was Cherica Adams' father, Jeffrey Moonie, who described Carruth's behavior as "odd" in the hours following the shooting.

Carruth never asked about her condition or that of his baby, Moonie said.

Instead, the former Carolina Panther sat on the hospital waiting room floor as another woman rubbed his shoulders.

Jeffrey Moonie, Adams' father (Court TV)

"He was fidgety and seemed agitated," Moonie said of Carruth. "His behavior was odd."

Moonie said he asked Carruth what happened, but the former wide receiver denied any knowledge of the shooting.

"His response to me was they had gone to the movies, they went back to his home, they got in separate cars and they went in different directions," he said.

Moonie also testified that he was there when Adams' mother, Saundra Adams, asked Carruth, "Did you shoot my baby?"

Carruth's reaction was defensive, according to Moonie. The former wide receiver leaned forward and said, "I didn't come here for that," he said. "That's why I started not to come."

When Moonie's wife questioned Carruth about a woman Adams had a verbal altercation weeks prior to the shooting, Carruth admitted that the woman, "Candy," was in fact the woman in the waiting room.

Candace Smith, another girlfriend of Carruth, told police she was the woman with Carruth in the waiting room of Carolinas Medical Center in the hours following the shooting.

According to Smith, the two women argued after Adams saw Carruth with Smith following a game at Ericsson Stadium. Adams confronted the pair and an argument with Smith ensued. The exchange grew so heated a security guard intervened.

Smith told police that while in the hospital waiting room, Carruth told her that he couldn't stand Adams — so much so that he considered having her beaten so she would lose the baby—but that he didn't orchestrate the shooting.

The defense, which admits that Carruth was dating several women at once and was not interested in an exclusive relationship with any of them, maintained that Smith's statements are false and that she was acting out of jealousy.

Moonie, an insurance company project manager, testified that he believed Carruth and his daughter were a couple. He said that their relationship began to change when Carruth was injured during the football season.

"He was less supportive," he said, raising an objection from defense attorney David Rudolf.

Moonie said he was present when Adams was scribbling notes about her recollection of the shooting.

Adams' cousin, Modrey Floyd, also testified Tuesday. Adams called Floyd at her apartment shortly before the shooting to ask if he could clean up since Carruth was coming back to her place unexpectedly, Floyd testified.

Prosecutors have pointed out during opening arguments that Carruth lived alone very close to the movie theater where the couple saw a 9:45 p.m. showing of "The Bone Collector," making it illogical that he would want to return to the apartment she shared with a roommate located at least 15 minutes away.

Floyd also testified that he accompanied Adams to a Lamaze class when Carruth failed to show up, a point that prompted an objection from Rudolf.